Angie bounches back but Indonesia loses in Fed Cup playoffs

Angie bounches back but Indonesia loses in Fed Cup playoffs

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Angelique 'Angie' Widjaja recovered from a dismal opening day on
Saturday to make short work of Anca Barna, but her convincing 6-
3, 6-1 win on Sunday failed to lift Indonesia over Germany in
their Federation Cup play-off.

Indonesia fell short of reaching the World Group, losing 3-2
in the two-day competition at the Senayan tennis stadium.

Trailing the visiting team by two matches after the opening
matches on Saturday, Angie gave the home side hope of a
turnaround after her dispatch of Barna in the first of the two
reverse singles matches on Sunday.

While Barna admitted to being physically drained after her
tiring three set win of Wynne Prakusya on the opening day, Angie
said she had overcome her jitters.

"I just relaxed, not like the day before when I was too tense.
I guess I recovered and played my best," Angie said.

However, it proved a short-lived jubilation for the home side
as Wynne crashed to a 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 defeat to Barbara Rittner to
give the Germans an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Wynne's loss left the team wringing their hands over what
could have been given that Rittner was troubled by her nagging
foot injuries.

"I must admit I'm disappointed by the results, particularly
because Wynne had a chance of winning her match to level the
score," non-playing captain Suzanna Anggarkusuma told a media
conference.

"It seems that Wynne was just too nervous. I was a player
myself so I can feel what Wynne endured in the progress of the
match.

"With such a daunting task and when we see a seemingly
imminent chance for a crucial win, it hurts when it turns out we
were too overwhelmed by the ambition and the win slips out of our
grasp," she said.

The German team looked relieved at the win, which means it
stays in the World Group for next year's competition while
Indonesia is put back where it started in the regional
competition to have any chance at a possible shot at the
playoffs.

"It was a tense and close game against Indonesia out there.
But at the end of the day we are happy that we staye in the World
Group," team captain Klaus Eberhard said.

On the hot sun-baked court at midday, Rittner had to battle
her nagging injuries against Wynne in the match, during which she
protested several dubious line calls and at one point had a terse
chat with the umpire which ended with her banging her racket on
the umpire's chair.

"It was a tiring match, a real see-saw battle. In the second
set, I had problems with my injuries. They were old injuries
coming back again. In the third set, I tried to be aggressive
like I was in the first set," said Rittner.

Angie and Wynne played out the string by beating Vanessa Hanke
and Angelika Roesch 6-2, 6-2 in the doubles later in the day.